ATLANTA, Ga. – At just age 18, Jake Nicolopulos suffered a stroke. The injury to his brain was devastating to Jake and his mother.
"He had this handicap and the way that I was treating him, all I was doing was handicapping him even more," said Ann Nicolopulos, Jake's mother.
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The four-year long road to recovery hasn't been easy.
"Jake is able to walk independently, it's a little limp but it's ok. He drives and he's definitely left hand dominate now, the right arm is more of an assist. His speech, that's definitely a difficulty," explained Ann.
Now at 22, Jake is a college student. Medical experts say successful stroke recovery has challenges, starting with a lack of awareness that stroke does happen in the young. Doctors say early diagnosis is crucial.
In people of all ages an unusual headache, nausea and vomiting and facial or arm weakness are signs of stroke.
"Getting them to early access to stroke care, and then getting them early treatment for rehabilitation," said Medical Director of Shepard Pathways, Payal Fadia, MD.
Doctors also advise young stroke victims to return to an active lifestyle and adopt a well-balanced diet to avoid the risk of a repeat stroke.
Jake has one word of advice for anyone who may suffer a stroke.
"Motivation," Jake said.
Fadia says medical experts are starting to see a trend and rise in the younger stroke population. Studies show that roughly 80 percent of strokes can be prevented with assistance from your doctor in managing risks.
Additional Information:
A stroke is a brain attack. A stroke occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery, which carries blood from the heart to the body, or a blood vessel, which is a tube that blood moves through throughout the body. This prevents blood from reaching the brain. Brain cells die and brain damage occurs which can lead to disability such as, memory, speech and movement. The amount of brain cells damaged is what determines how severe the damage will be. While some people are able to overcome a stroke without any sort of disability, about two-thirds of people have a disability afterwards. This can range from a weakened limb, to being paralyzed on one side of their body or even loss of ability to speak.
(Source: http://www.stroke.org/site/PageServer?pagename=stroke)
STROKE STATISTICS: Almost 800,000 Americans have a stroke each year and a stoke kills about 130,000 Americans each year. About every 1 in 19 deaths is caused by a stroke, which means that about every 4 minutes an American dies from a stroke. A stroke is also the number one cause of long term disability.
(Source: http://www.cdc.gov/STROKE/FACTS.HTM)
STROKES AT ANY AGE: We might assume that strokes happen to older adults but this isn't always the case. There has been a rise in the youth who are having a stroke. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the chance of having a stroke has gone up more than a third for people ages 15 to 44 in the years 1995 to 2008. Factors that play a role in having a stroke are:
- High blood pressure
- Smoking
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- High cholesterol
These factors can be an issue to someone at any age. To reduce the risk of having a stroke, live a healthy lifestyle and avoid putting your body at risk. By eating healthy at a young age we can prevent these risks from causing a problem.
(Source: http://www.cdc.gov/stroke/facts.htm)